Vomiting diarrhea Norovirus very contagious

Noroviruses cause almost every fifth vomiting diarrhea

06/27/2014

Noroviruses are responsible for nearly every fifth vomiting diarrhea worldwide. This resulted in a US study, whose results in the journal „The Lancet“ were published. Accordingly, the Norovirus is much more infectious than previously thought. As the researchers around Benjamin Lopman report from the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, already 18 viruses were enough for a contagion. In one gram of human stool, however, one billion of the pathogens are already contained. The infection takes place via contact or lubrication infection.

Norovirus can cause fatal infections, but vomiting diarrhea is usually harmless
Gastrointestinal diseases usually occur frequently. On school trips or cruise ships, it rarely meets only one person. This speaks for the high risk of infection of viruses, which are usually the cause of the complaints. According to the study, almost every fifth vomiting diarrhea is caused by noroviruses, which are much more contagious than previously thought. Although the Norovirus cause by no means only severe disease outcomes - only 17 percent of those affected would have to be treated in emergency outpatient departments and in-patient in the hospital - yet it comes again and again to death, write the researchers in the journal. Due to the enormous amount of infections, around 800 people would die of norovirus every year in the US alone. According to the study, 1.45 million people worldwide do not survive a diarrheal diarrheal disease each year. In Africa and Southeast Asia, more than a quarter of deaths occur in children under the age of five. However, it is unclear how high the proportion of noroviruses is.

An infection with noroviruses is characterized by the typical vomiting diarrhea. In most cases there is a strong feeling of sickness with nausea, abdominal pain, headache and muscle aches.

Norovirus is the main pathogen for gastrointestinal diseases
For their study, Lopman and his team evaluated data from 175 publications. It documented more than 187,000 cases of vomiting diarrhea in recent years from 48 countries. There is no vaccine against norovirus yet, the researchers report. Their results, however, showed how urgently such a remedy was needed. Their investigation has also shown that the occurrence of noroviruses in developing and industrialized countries is about the same. „This shows that, unlike bacteria and parasites, noroviruses can not simply be controlled by an improved drinking water and sanitary situation“, quotes the news agency „dpa“ Lopman.

„Norovirus is the main pathogen for gastroenteritis associated with nearly a fifth of all cases of acute marginitis. Targeted action to contain norovirus, such as vaccines, should be developed and implemented“, so the conclusion of the researchers.

The study was funded with the participation of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Dutch Ministry of Health.